


Dominic meets Xander

by DavidRoseBrewer



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 2020 au, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Online Dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29112933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DavidRoseBrewer/pseuds/DavidRoseBrewer
Summary: “LUKE, THIS IS ALEX. WHAT THE FUCK?” He replied, his hands shaking as he typed out his reply.There was just so much to process. Why was Luke on Grindr? Why was he using a fake name? Was he catfishing people? Was it a scam? Oh god, he’d seen Luke’s dick. That certainly wasn’t going to help his crush. He knew those arms looked familiar.ORLuke sends Alex a nude photo when the two unknowingly connect on Grindr.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 93





	Dominic meets Xander

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am again.
> 
> I wrote this pretty much in one sitting today, it just kind of happened. No beta or anything so let's just roll with it.
> 
> This was inspired by a TikTok (I have no idea how you link things here, it's from wesswadee if you're interested) to the effect of "when you accidentally message ur bestie on grindr"
> 
> It's basically 1995 Alex/Luke but just set in 2020 to accommodate for technology/phones/apps. I have never used Grindr so this is based off some quick research and a bit of artistic license.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Alex really wished he had something better to do with his time than spending his Thursday evening browsing his way through Grindr. He hated dating apps but it still seemed like his best way of meeting someone. Meeting people in bars or clubs had never worked out for him, and at least apps gave him a semblance of control. It was a lot easier to filter out anyone he didn’t want to talk to without having to reject them face to face.

The pickings were slim though. Most of the men seemed to be older than him and were a lot more aggressive about what they wanted. For example, there were plenty of profiles with screen names of sex positions or puns rather than actual names. The worst contenders included ‘HardenThicke’ and ‘Bottom4U’. Alex wanted a human connection, even if it wasn’t going to end in a long-term relationship.

He was just about to close the app when a profile photo caught his eye. The name underneath said, Dominic. Dominic’s photo was a shirtless selfie, with his face cropped out. That was fair, that’s what Alex’s profile picture was too. He didn’t like the idea of people knowing who he was before he’d had a chance to talk to them first. Plus he’d worked hard to get his abs and he was going to show them off to the one group of people who he knew would appreciate them.

Anyway, Dominic also had a toned chest and some very nice arms. Arms that reminded him of Luke. Luke had great arms, Alex would often find himself staring at Luke’s biceps for just a few seconds too long whenever they rehearsed together. Alex shook the thought from his mind, knowing he needed to get over his crush on his bandmate and best friend. Maybe Dominic could help him with that.

Alex clicked on the profile, curious to find out more. It told him that Dominic was 19, so the same age as him, and was within a three-mile radius so he was likely local. There was a bio line about just looking for fun, and well, Alex was looking for fun too. His finger hovered over the message button, before choosing the ‘tap’ option instead. He never knew how to start a conversation so always chickened out of sending the first message, but at least this would show Dominic that he was interested. 

He closed the app then, deciding that was enough for one night. He opened Instagram instead, mindlessly scrolling through his feed. He was interrupted a few minutes later when a Grindr notification popped up, informing him of a new message from Dominic. Alex clicked on it, opening the message.

“ _Hey, has anyone called the fire brigade yet? Because you’re are smoking_ 🔥 _”_

Alex rolled his eyes at the line, although he couldn’t help the smile that was beginning to creep across his lips. It was a cheesy line but it wasn’t overtly sexual or just describing whatever depraved things they wanted to do to Alex instead. By Grindr standards, it was downright sweet.

“ _Ha ha. You’re one to talk, you’re hot as hell_ 🥵” Alex typed out in response. It wasn’t his best response, but he sucked at talking to faceless bodies on the internet.

“ _You wanna see more?”_ Came the response from Dominic.

“ _I’m not going to say no to that.”_ Alex replied. 

It was a few minutes before Alex’s phone buzzed again. He looked down, a blush creeping across his cheeks as he saw a dick pic sitting in his messages. He was actually interested in meeting Dominic, which was more than could be said for most of the other people who sent him such pictures. The fact that this one seemed to be bigger than the others was just a bonus. But Alex didn’t meet faceless people from the internet, he at least wanted to know what a person looked like before he suggested meeting up.

“ _So hot. How about a face photo?”_ Alex typed out, keeping his fingers crossed that Dominic’s face was as hot as his body. If so, he’d be out of the door in a flash.

“ _Sure, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours._ ” 

That was fair.

“ _Deal.”_

It was another minute before Dominic sent through a photo of his face.

“What the fuck?!” Alex whisper-yelled to himself, dropping the phone in shock. There, staring back at him through the screen, was Luke.

“ _LUKE, THIS IS ALEX. WHAT THE FUCK?”_ He replied, his hands shaking as he typed out his reply. 

There was just so much to process. Why was Luke on Grindr? Why was he using a fake name? Was he catfishing people? Was it a scam? Oh god, he’d seen Luke’s dick. That certainly wasn’t going to help his crush. He knew those arms looked familiar.

A thought crossed his mind that maybe someone else was just using Luke’s picture. After all, Luke was straight. He had no reason to be on Grindr. That theory was quickly debunked though as his phone started ringing seconds later, with Luke’s name flashing up on the screen. Clearly, it _had_ been Luke on the other end of the messages. 

Alex declined the call, silencing the phone before tossing it to the end of his bed. He was too caught up in his thoughts to talk to Luke right now. He felt sick, his stomach twisting over at what this meant for them. Things were going to be awkward for sure, even if Alex knew their friendship was strong enough to eventually survive this.

He found himself circling back to the same idea over and over, what if Luke wasn’t straight? Wouldn’t he have told Alex? Was there a reason he hadn’t? If Luke _was_ into guys, why hadn’t he picked Alex? Alex knew that last one was unfair. If Luke was into guys then he was under no obligation to find Alex attractive. Maybe Alex wasn’t his type. Although judging from his messages, Luke had liked what he’d seen. 

Which led him back to it being a scam. What if Luke was just scamming gay men? He was always scheming on how to raise money for new band equipment or to put towards paying for studio time. Maybe this was just his latest idea, picking up guys on apps before seducing them into donating to the Sunset Curve cause. 

Alex was spiralling hard, losing track of time as he lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He didn’t even hear the sound of the doorbell or the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. He did hear the knock at his bedroom door, looking up in surprise as a sheepish-looking Luke let himself in a second later.

“What are you doing here?” Alex asked. He retrieved his phone from the end of his bed, the screen telling him he had 15 missed calls from the boy standing in front of him.

“I needed to talk to you, to explain.” Luke replied, an urgency in his tone. “Your mom let me in.”

Alex choked back a laugh, knowing his mom wouldn’t have been so welcoming if she knew what had just gone down between them. His parents didn’t like the fact that he was gay, they’d made that perfectly clear when he came out to them when he was sixteen. They were mostly pleasant (if a little cold) towards him, but they’d made it clear that no boyfriends were going to be welcome in their house. Not that Luke was his boyfriend, but the dick pic had certainly blurred the friendship line, even if it was accidental.

“We can’t talk about this here.” Alex replied, glancing nervously at the door. It was mainly an excuse to not have to talk to Luke about what he’d seen, but he also didn’t want to give his parents an excuse to be pissed at him.

“Well then let’s go somewhere. The studio, the beach, the park. Anywhere.” Luke replied. “Please Alex.” His tone was bordering on begging, and who was Alex to resist those puppy dog eyes?

“Fine.” Alex sighed, rolling off his bed. He grabbed a hoodie and some sneakers, putting both on before heading for the door with Luke trailing behind him.

“Hey, mom? Dad? We’re just going out for a bit, I’ll be back later.” He called out as he headed down the stairs. He heard a grunt of recognition from his dad, not expecting any other response as he headed out of the front door.

They walked in silence until they reached the beach. It was about a ten-minute walk, and Alex stared at the sidewalk in front of him most of the way there. The two of them made their way to the end of the pier, a spot they had frequented before when they needed a quiet place to hang out. Alex sat down, letting his legs dangle off the side. 

“Can I talk now?” Luke asked as he sat down next to him. Alex looked over at him, noticing he looked nervous as hell.

“Sure, go ahead.” Alex nodded. He was going to have to talk about this eventually, they might as well get it over with. 

“Okay, I, uh, well, I don’t actually know where to start.” Luke stuttered. It was strange seeing him like this, he was usually super confident and great with words. Even with girls, he was normally charming, and not falling over his words like he was now. 

“Why don’t you start with why you were on Grindr? And why were you using a fake name?” Alex sighed, figuring he’d throw Luke a bone and give him a starting point.

“Okay, I can do that.” Luke nodded slowly. “I was on Grindr because… because recently I think I’ve developed feelings for a guy.”

Of all the things he could have said, Alex was not expecting that one.

“Grindr and feelings do not go together.” Alex couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s like going to a steakhouse looking for a vegan salad.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Luke chuckled. “But the thing is… this guy means a lot to me. I didn’t know if what I was feeling was real, because I’ve never really liked a guy like that. I didn’t want to jump into something with him to just realise that it was a mistake or that I wasn’t actually attracted to guys after all. I couldn’t risk him getting hurt.”

“That’s oddly sweet of you.” Alex commented, beginning to think of who Luke could be talking about. There was Reggie and Bobby of course, plus Luke had a few other friends from his job. Although as far as Alex knew, they didn’t exactly mean anything to him.

“I just didn’t want this person to think I was experimenting with them or just using them to figure myself out. I wanted to do that first. So I signed up for Grindr to see if this thing is real for me.” Luke admitted, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt as he spoke. “And I didn’t want anyone to know my actual name, just in case it turned out my feelings weren’t real or whatever.”

Alex had softened by now, his earlier annoyance fading away. Luke seemed to have had good intentions, he wasn’t on the app to make fun of gay men or to catfish them. Alex knew what it was like to try and grapple with your identity and how hard it could be to come to terms with that.

“Why Dominic?” Alex asked. It wasn’t important but he was still curious about the choice of name.

“Because Yungblud came out as pansexual a while ago and I’ve done some reading, and that’s what I think I am.” Luke explained. “And Dominic is Yungblud’s real name.” 

“Oh right, that’s cool.” Alex nodded.

“Plus you weren’t even using your real name.” Luke shot back, raising an eyebrow. “I might have twigged who you were if it said Alex, not Xander.”

“Xander is part of my name!” Alex laughed. “You know, Ale _xander._ ” He used the shortened version for privacy reasons, not wanting to give his usual name out to anyone he didn’t know.

“Ohhh yeah, I forget your name isn’t actually Alex.” Luke chuckled, the atmosphere between them beginning to get a bit lighter and a bit less tense. 

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, looking out over the water.

“I can’t believe I’ve seen your junk.” Alex commented a few beats later, offering Luke a playful smile.

“Hey, Xander said it was hot.” Luke shot back teasingly. And well, Luke had a point there.

“How long have you been on Grindr? Have you met anyone off there yet? Do you know if it’s real yet?” Alex asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. He just wanted to know where Luke stood on being attracted to guys.

“I’ve been on there for about a month.” Luke answered. “I’ve met up with a few guys, and it’s definitely real. I'm pansexual.” He added, a smile spreading across his face. “That’s the first time I’ve said that out loud.”

“That’s amazing, I’m proud of you.” Alex smiled, happy for his friend above any other feelings he had going on. “And hey, I guess this means you can now tell Reggie.”

“Reggie?” Luke asked, a confused frown replacing his earlier smile. 

“Yeah, isn’t Reggie the guy you like?” Alex asked. “I mean you said it was someone close to you, he’s cute, and I’ve seen the way you look at him when you two are sharing a microphone.”

“You are such a dumbass.” Luke laughed, causing Alex to glare at him. “I don’t like Reggie. Although I’m definitely going to tell him you think he’s cute.”

“Fine.” Alex huffed. “Tell Bobby then, whatever.” 

“Eugh, you think I like _Bobby_?” Luke grimaced, pulling a face. “No, I like you, you idiot. You’re the guy.” He added, chuckling quietly at the shocked look that had graced Alex’s face. 

“You like… me?” Alex repeated, unsure if he had heard him correctly. He just couldn’t comprehend that all this time he’d been crushing on Luke, he had been crushing right back. Maybe he’d been too busy staring at Luke’s arms to notice Luke’s eyes staring back at him. 

“Yeah.” Luke nodded as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “You’re cute, funny, talented, hot, you make me laugh, and you really do have a smoking body.” He joked, calling back to his earlier pickup line. 

Alex blinked a few times, trying to figure out how to respond to that. Frankly, he was still playing catch up on how he got from clicking on Dominic’s profile to having his “straight” best friend confess to having feelings for him.

“Alex?” 

“Huh?”

“Are you going to say anything?” Luke asked, nerves clearly showing again in his voice. Alex realised he hadn’t said anything yet to Luke’s declaration. Luke had put himself out there, and he had left him hanging.

Except he didn’t know what to say, he was speechless. Alex didn’t trust himself to open his mouth because he had no idea what would come out of it. Would it be some embarrassing diatribe about how he’s had feelings for Luke for months? Or how he’s dreamed about kissing him for basically just as long?

Alex decided words were too risky, and maybe action would be better here instead. Before he could back out of it or let his anxiety overthink it, he decided to kiss him instead. Alex leaned in and closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Luke’s. 

Luke responded eagerly, sliding closer as he kissed Alex back. Alex honestly thought he’d died and gone to heaven with how good it felt. Doing this with Luke felt even better than he’d ever hoped it would. To no-one’s surprise, Luke was a great kisser and he seemed to already know exactly how to push Alex’s buttons.

They were there for the best part of an hour, just trading kisses with each other. They cycled between fast, slow, hard, soft, each kiss just as good as the one that went before it. 

“We should probably go home soon.” Alex mumbled against Luke’s lips, suddenly aware of how long they’d been out.

“Mhmm yeah, I guess.” Luke agreed half-heartedly, making no effort to pull away or stop what he was doing.

It was another twenty minutes before they actually agreed to call it a night. Luke climbed to his feet first, holding out his hand to help Alex up. He didn’t let go though, interlacing their fingers and holding on for the entirety of their walk home. 

“Goodnight Xander.” Luke smiled as they said goodbye outside of Alex’s house.

“Night, Dominic.” Alex laughed, pulling Luke behind one of the front yard trees so he could kiss him goodnight and stay out of sight in case his parents were still awake.

With one final kiss, Luke reluctantly pulled away and made his way back to the path. “I’ll text you.” He called back over his shoulder. 

“You better!” Alex replied, watching Luke’s retreating figure. He made his way into the house, unsure if he’d ever smiled so much in his life. He got ready for bed and was just climbing under the covers when his phone buzzed.

Alex picked it up, grinning as he saw a text from Luke. 

_“I had a great time with you tonight. Can’t wait to do it again.”_

“ _Me too. I’ve never had so much fun with a Grindr hook up.”_ Alex replied.

He opened up Grindr, going to his message history. He tried to open his last message from ‘Dominic’ but was met with an error message telling him that the user could not be found. Luke had obviously deleted his account already, presumably as he was walking home.

Alex couldn’t help but smile again as he navigated his way through the Grindr settings, happily hitting delete on his own account. If Luke didn’t need this anymore then neither did he. Once done with Grindr, he added Tinder and Hinge to his deleted apps. 

He had a good feeling about this thing with Luke, excited to see where it would take him. And if he falls asleep thinking of the picture Luke sent him earlier, well, that’s no-one’s business but his. 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
